Planning a spring garden a refined pleasure
Blossom and flowers are part and parcel of the visual impact of spring In public and private gardens. For the casual viewer with little knowledge of floral matters it probably appears that the array of flowers gracing the south at present are “ail their own work.” For those who have decided along with American writer, John Bangs, that, “to dig and delve in good clean dirt can do a mortal little hurt,” the truth is a bit more complex. Months of deliberation can lurk behind the rows of bulbs and other flowers now just nearing their blooming peak. In the adult world gardening seems to create one of the great cultural divides amongst folk. While gardeners rejoice in expanses of soil
non-gardeners seeth and consult concreting price scales.
For this sub-species the pleasures contained in the winter months of browsing through seed catalogues, brooding over compost, and autumn or winter plantings is at best a baffling eccentricity. That people derive great pleasure even from the names of flowers and plants is possibly beyond the imagination of the products of the consumer society. Such reveries are a gentle, tranquil sensation.
The process has been made simpler in recent years as the companies marketing seed packets have learnt the benefits of colourful pictures and prose. Even the most casual gardeners have noticed
the influx of packets tailored to fit particular markets. - One such example would be the “Colonial garden collection” produced by Arthur Yates and Company, of Auckland. This selection has been created to cater for the growing number of older Victorian and Edwardian homes now in favour as restoration subjects. It contains a selection of three packets of flower seed, destined to grow to three different heights. The collection has been based on the colonial gardens of the 1831 s.
While the concept is convenient it is the list of flowers-to-be that catch the attention of the enthusiast
The small fry include marigolds, zinnias, mig-
nonette, and the medium height, dahlias, snapdragons and sweet william, while the tallest section have siKh magical contents as hollyhocks, foxglove, larkspur and the apt Canterbury bells. While such mixtures are ideal for new, “old” gardens they can also be blended in tastefully with existing gardens. The varieties also give gardeners on new soil an idea of what does well in their particular turf. :; The pleasure component of gardening comes to the fore at this time of year when those who have planned ahead see their choices break triumphantly through the topsoil. There is possibly no better way to share Jn the season of renewal than by aiding the flowering of a spring garden.
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Press, 6 October 1987, Page 42
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445Planning a spring garden a refined pleasure Press, 6 October 1987, Page 42
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